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How to make toffee apples

No bonfire night party is complete without a tray of sweet and sticky toffee apples. Use our easy step-by-step guide to create these tasty treats – you can even personalise your toffee apples with different decorations to give them a bit of sparkle!

Prepare the apples

Put 6 red apples in a large bowl and cover with boiling water – this will remove any waxy residue on the skin and help the caramel to stick. Leave them to sit for 1 minute and then drain and dry with kitchen roll. A white dust may appear on the apples but this is nothing to worry about, just make sure they are thoroughly dry.

Insert the skewers

Carefully push a wooden skewer into the top of each of the apples and through the core. You don’t want the skewer to come out the other end, just push enough so it is secure. Rest the apples, skewers up, on a baking tray lined with nonstick baking paper.

Make the caramel

In a medium-sized pan, add 300g golden caster sugar, 3 tbsp of golden syrup and 5 tbsp of water. Swirl the water around so it covers the sugar but do not stir. Heat the mixture on low until the sugar has dissolved and then turn up the heat and boil the sugar syrup until it reaches 140°C on a sugar thermometer. Make sure not to stir the caramel at any time, you can just swirl it around gently in the pan.

Coat the apples and set

Once the toffee has reached 140°c, work quickly to dip each apple (using the skewer) into the caramel. Be very careful not to touch the caramel as it will be extremely hot. You may need to tip the pan while rotating the apple to get an even coating of caramel. Repeat quickly with the other apples. If the mixture becomes too stiff, return it to the heat for a minute until it has softened.

Decorate

You can now leave the apples to cool on the baking tray – skewer side pointing up – or immediately after the apples are dipped, sprinkle them with nuts, sprinkles or chopped dried fruits. Make sure to sprinkle the toppings over the apple rather than dipping the apples into the bowl – you don't want them to set in the bowl!

Serve

Leave to set at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and then enjoy.